I’ve learned via the Twitterverse that Rick Salutin, lefty columnist for the Globe and Mail, has had his column yanked. I wrote a letter to John Stackhouse, the Globe’s editor in chief. I suggest you do the same – it’s jstackhouse@globeandmail.com. Here’s what I wrote…

I’m a subscriber to the Globe and Mail and have been for quite a few years, and Rick Salutin’s column has always been one I make sure to read. So I hope and assume that by now you’ve been deluged wtih messages of support for him, and can only echo what all the rest of his readers are no doubt saying. His is a column that always has provided a well-written progressive viewpoint, and I can’t imagine any reason for his voice to be erased from your paper. I guess I can sum up my feelings in this way: for a newspaper that, for all its excellence, has always been a largely conservative voice with its heart on Bay Street, the inclusion of a colourful, no-holds-barred lefty like Rick Salutin in the mix reassured me that the Globe did make an effort to include a diversity of viewpoints. If he goes – and for no stated reason at that – I have to assume that this is no longer the case… that any vestige of a spectrum of opinion has been dispensed with. I hope this decision will be swiftly corrected. If not, I might need to stop supporting the Globe with my subscription… and just catch the best bits on your website.

Meanwhile – for now at least – you can enjoy Rick’s previous columns on the Globe and Mail website.